When we talk about web design, many people mistake it for something else. They think web site design is the same as web development. It’s not. Development is the process of writing and refining the code that makes a web site function in the way that it does.

In the context of creating and producing a web site, design carries a far broader meaning. It can mean layout, colour, typography, the content area, images, social media integration and so on. This can be confusing to many people, so a good way to remember is a web designer is like a decorator and a developer is like a house builder. One person has to design and decorate the house and a different person has to builds it. Thinking about it in this way is far easier to remember.

In this article we’ll discuss three major web design elements and explain why making them work together helps create a strong, coherent website that appeals to its visitors and offers them a positive browsing experience.

Central to any truly high-quality site are strong writing and editorial skills. The visual elements of a web site are important, but even the most professionally designed, beautiful site can be undone by bad writing and ineffective, poorly edited copy.

Good web site design must include professional copy writing and editing. Content that informs, persuades and calls a visitor to action is invaluable for online success.

Given that visual presentation forms such a huge part of the web browsing experience, graphic design is obviously another significant part of a strong website. Good-quality graphic design revolves around a deep understanding of spacing, grouping, proportion, balance, imagery, contrast and colour.

When paired with creative, dynamic copy, striking and original graphic design can really add style and substance to a site’s appearance, lifting it from being just another page a visitor skims past to one they find engaging and appealing.

A good web site design should also inherently lend itself to quick, effective search engine optimisation. From code to copy, call-to-action to “contact us”, a site must demonstrate to search engine spiders that it is genuine, fresh and relevant to what users are looking for.

Well-written, carefully chosen words, creative, intelligent graphic design and images and search engine-friendly code and content. These are just a few factors in good web site design. But done right, they can do good things for traffic, bounce rates and overall user experience.

Creating a website is a lengthy process, especially if you do not have much of experience in coding and understanding of web layouts. CakePHP is the best application framework that users can learn to develop some really powerful websites without spending a dime on expensive programs.

A brief introduction to CakePHP:

PHP framework has been recognized as one of the most popular coding frameworks in order to create websites. There have been a lot of positive changes incorporated in the PHP, which is the reason why many corporate giants are using the PHP framework to define their online presence. However, more often than not, there arises a problem of unorganized document coding. It is difficult for finding errors in the coding for the developers. The one framework that has been very successful is CakePHP, thanks to its easy coding and debugging procedure.

CakePHP is a free open source framework which consists of organized codes, so all a user has to do is embed a few codes and develop it into a fully functioning website. Coding with this framework saves you a lot of time and money. The use of CakePHP is not limited to websites; you can create stronger systems for content management, eCommerce sites, applications on the web, without any hassles.

CakePHP framework boasts of the wide use of the web-developments industry and some of the obvious reasons are listed as follows:

More flexibility and structure of the website

MVC environment: The Model View Control allows programming to be done in an organized manner. The flow of the code is perfect as there is a definite demarcation between the business logic and presentation. Users can view the content in a format viewable.

Open source platform at an affordable rate: Anybody can use the CakePHP and its versatile tools to develop a website. All you need is a programmer who has the experience of using this framework.

The versatility of the framework: The CakePHP supports diverse technologies and various programming languages. Some of the technologies include JavaScript, Ajax and XML. Integrating the website isn’t a problem as it solves all the issues that come with the inclusion of diverse technologies.

Foolproof from any safety or security threat: There are several inbuilt tools such as XSS prevention and SQL prevention that help in preventing applications from illegitimate access.

Enjoyable development procedure: No complaints about getting baffled by the complex coding that need so much time for running. CakePHP offers you the option of simplifying the code lines as needed.

The overall cost of development of your website is lower compared to the websites created using other tools. This obviously has a direct bearing on the profitability of your business with no compromise on the quality of the web-based applications. Using this framework is easy, SEO friendly so you can get a higher number of hits on your site, and loaded with all the features that a good website can boast about. If you desire to gain that extra edge for your business in this age of cut-throat competition, get a better structured website for your company with the help of CakePHP.

If you’re one that considers most websites to be the same, try to compare Google to Facebook or Yahoo to Bing. The elements of these websites portray the importance of a quality web design. The ideas in this post should be used as a reference to raise your awareness of the possibilities you can incorporate into making your web design unique.

Google loves fast websites. A fast website is a good website. You can’t expect much from impatient viewers (such as myself!). If they’re left looking at an incomplete page for minutes while your content loads, the frustration will likely lead to closing your site and find what they’re looking for elsewhere.

You should validate every web page that you create. Something you should avoid is using a “what you see is what you get” editor when validating your website designs. If you choose to use those programs, be sure that you take the extra effort to utilize a validation service to validate your code. This kind of metric sits well with Google. A free service called W3C is a great start for this.

Although a majority of people are familiar with Photoshop, many are unaware of a similar Adobe product called Dreamweaver. This software is a gold mine for web developers and allows you to create any kind of page, content, or function you desire. I suggest looking into this kind of software and how it can assist you in your web design goals. Remember – you want to be extremely unique with your web design.

Developing a site that is cross-functional across different platforms will attract more unique visitors. You’ll also benefit from becoming fluent in several platforms, including PHP and Java. Web development is another language – one that you can become fluent in with practice just like a regular language! Whether you’re designing a new site, or simply helping a friend launch their own, a wide variety of experience and knowledge will help you in the long run.

Create a favicon for your website. This is a small graphic that can be seen in the browser and will make it easier for your visitors to bookmark your website. When they pull up their bookmarks, your memorable favicon will stand out. Your favicon should be consistent with your website’s logo and design features.

If a design company doesn’t have a portfolio available, I wouldn’t even consider them. Carefully review the portfolios of the companies that are in your consideration set. You want to make sure they have the proper experience, knowledge, reputation, and have the capital to meet your demands. The company’s portfolio will show you how experienced and knowledgeable they are.

When you decide to venture on your own web design, you probably aren’t going to create a revolutionary site like Twitter or Facebook. Overall, the chances of making a worldwide known site are slim. However, with unique web design skills, you can create attractive sites that function even better than those owned by a major company. Use the tips learned here, and start designing your website today.